Do the Cleveland Cavaliers deserve a second All-Star player?

The Cleveland Cavaliers only sent one player to the NBA All-Star game in 2023.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are going into the 2023 NBA All-Star Game with only one All-Star selection. That one selection is Donovan Mitchell, the team’s prized offseason addition and he more than earned his selection. Mitchell will be a starter for the 2023 All-Star game, and he’ll be making that start in his old stomping ground in Utah. Yet, Mitchell will be making that trip back to Salt Lake City on his own, as the Cavaliers had no other players selected for the All-Star squad.

Well, not completely on his own, as Evan Mobley is joining him on this trip. Still, this is a big shift from last year, where Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen were both selected to the team, and Mobley went along for the ride as part of the Rising Stars Challenge. Mobley will be returning to participate in the Rising Stars Challenge again for the All-Star weekend, but there will be no third Cavalier joining him or Mobley at this point.

Since Allen, Garland, and Mobley won the Skills Challenge last year, and there are only two Cavs currently going to the All-Star weekend this year, it looks like no-repeat will be in order.

Is that the right call? Did the Cavs really not earn a second All-Star this year?

The Cleveland Cavaliers did earn a second All-Star selection

When you look at the last two All-Star selections in 2022, Allen and Garland, we have to be honest about our evaluation. Allen has taken a slight, just a slight, step back from last year. His shooting percentage is down, his points are down and his rebounds are down. Only three centers in the league made the All-Star Team, the two from the East were Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo. Both players are better all-around than Allen. So it’s fair that he got left off the team.

But what about Garland? I don’t think you can argue against Tyrese Haliburton, DeMar DeRozan, or Jaylen Brown. Haliburton is a double-double machine, DeRozan is hitting 50% from the floor and Brown is dropping 27 points per game on solid efficiency. You could argue that Garland deserves a spot over Brown but it’s debatable. The same can be said for Galrand over Kyrie Irving. Garland is the better player but Irving has the bigger name and stats.

It’s not debatable that Garland was a better choice over Jrue Holiday, however. Garland is a better player, a better scorer, and more important to the Cavs’ success than Holiday is to the Bucks’ success.

Hopefully, someone ends up sitting out the All-Star game and Garladn gets his rightful seat next to Mitchell and Mobley on the plane ride to Salt Lake City.